DESCRIPTION (Taken from the application) Members of the Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease (CGIBD) are basic and clinical scientists from diverse disciplines dedicated to advancing our understanding of gastrointestinal biology, physiology and epidemiology with a special emphasis on inflammatory bowel diseases. Research on mechanisms responsible for gastrointestinal diseases can be grouped into four major categories: inflammation, fibrogenesis, proliferation and epidemiology/clinical research. The goal of the center is to promote and enhance multidisciplinary digestive disease research. The center achieves this goal through: 1) core facilities that provide training, technical support, laboratory animals, assays, imaging and purified cell populations; 2) a pilot feasibility program that offers startup funds to junior investigators, or to established digestive disease research. The center achieves this goal through: 1) core facilities that provide training, technical support, laboratory animals, assays, imaging and purified cell populations; 2) a pilot feasibility program that offers startup funds to junior investigators, or to established investigators who wish to pursue a new research direction; 3) a scientific enrichment program consisting of seminars, symposia and workshops to improve the intellectual climate for digestive disease research and to promote cooperation, collaboration and communication among involved personnel; 4) a professional development and training program that fosters the development of junior faculty. To support the research of members, the center proposes the following cores: 1) Biostatistics and Data Management; 2) Immunotechnologies 3) Advanced Cell Technologies and Tissue Engineering (cell culture and multiparametric cell sorting); 4) Molecular Imaging (confocal microscopy, in-situ hybridization, histology); 5) Gene Delivery; and 6) Gnotobiotic Animal. Gastrointestinal diseases and their complications have a significant health and economic impact. Research by members of this center has led to fundamental breakthroughs in our understanding of mechanisms responsible for inflammatory bowel diseases, cirrhosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and colon cancer.